The Future is Bulletproof
by KuroTenshi1
Summary: A decade after the Events in "Things Change", the kids have grown up but the disappearance of their brother still haunts the family. Unfortunately for them, a new set of enemies have entered the scene. Threatening to tear down everything they lived for.


AN: And so here's a sequel to "Things Change". It's ten years later and the kids have grown up more. This story is mostly going to focus on them and their trials to becoming 'Superheroes' of their own. Again, timelines, histories, and the like have been twisted to fit this story. Not the other way around.

And yes, Virgina, Apollo will be back. Whether he's good or evil is up to debate.

Disclaimer: Same as in "things change". Hasn't changed guys.

* * *

><p>1.<p>

_Hey kid, do I have your attention?_

_ I know the way you've been livin'_

_ Life's so wreckless, tragedy endless_

**_ Welcome to the family_**

- Welcome To the Family by Avenged Sevenfold

* * *

><p>Char-El, better known as Charlie, wrinkles his nose at the food that he's been given. Currently, the twelve year old pokes at the green peas that his Mama told him to eat. Honestly, he would rather have fish. Or maybe some of that tasty pasta from yesterday.<p>

Anything but _green peas_.

He leans back, looking around the Watchtower cafeteria waiting for the others. It's the one time during the month when they have a family get together.

Unless someone's been thrown through time again. Or another dimension like what happened to Mattie and some other last week.

Lucky. He thought folding his thin arms across his chest as a third one grabs a fork and stabs at the peas. It's not _fair_! Everyone else got to do something cool but he doesn't get to.

Even Amelia gets to do cool things and she's only _ten_!

Even if she looks _twelve_ too.

"Still not eating your greens?" An amused Green Lantern walks by him, "You know what they say-"

"I know..." Charlie sighs softly looking at him. "Hey, um..Mr. Jon?"

"Yeah?" He raises a brow watching the kid. He's seen him and the others grow up in the last decade or so. It still surprises him sometimes that Charlie could literally be anyone he wants to be. This year, he's decided to be a boy even though he's kept that one blonde highlight in his bangs from last year. Darker skin tone like a beach tan this year.

"Do..do you think that this time we'll find him?" Charlie pushes the peas around again, wondering still.

He froze for a moment before smiling a little sadly, "Maybe. Anything's possible, kid."

"I hope so." Charlie glances up at him with dark eyes, "That way everyone could stop being so sad all the time."

"Yeah. I understand that."

* * *

><p>"Smith, Harper?"<p>

"Here. " Harper, a light milk-chocolate skin tone teen, raises his hand to show he was indeed in the classroom. Once that was over he lets his deep brown eyes, hidden behind a pair of frame less glasses, roam the class room of twenty-one students and sighs deeply. This was so not what he had in mind.

Still, it could be worse.

"Great, now class, we'll be having a pop quiz in a few-"

Correction. It _is_.

After a grueling day in class, Harper nearly tears out of the building running straight for Jason's motorcycle that waited at the front gates for him.

"Thank fucking god you're here." He loosens his tie and stuffs the glasses in his bag as he then sets the helmet over his blonde dreadlock hair. "Swear, another minute and I'm killing someone!"

"Says the A-B student." Jason smirks, "Ready kid?"

"I'm not a kid."

"Whatever."

Holding onto his uncle, Harper sighs almost contently, just watching the world whiz by him on the back of the bike. It was that time of the month where he had to go to this 'family get together'.

Not that he doesn't like to.

It's just damn _depressing_ to be reminded of what you've lost all these years.

For Harper J. Smith-J for Jackson- it meant avoiding the topic of his brother, Apollo.

_Apollo_, who was seen as the good child of the family. _Apollo,_ who didn't believe in magic but knew that monsters were real. _Apollo_, who disappeared one night while their parents were off trying to keep them safe.

It didn't work though.

Without that, Harper supposed that none of this would've come to pass. He and his four remaining siblings were split up to study under heroes that had their aptitude in powers and compatibility.

Even if his Grandpa Bruce wanted to secretly keep them all to himself. He really needs to see a therapist for that issue.

Which meant, of course, that his older sister Mary ended up studying under Grandpa Clark. She would've been with Kara had their cousin-really? She's a _cousin_?- not ended up in the future somewhere over some boy when they were still young. The result was an over-protective Clark and disgruntled Dad.

They still didn't get along too well at these things but at least it's manageable.

As for his younger siblings, it was half guessing when they split them up eventually. Mattie actually diminished a bit in power so she ended up with Goat-man...er.. '_Grandpa_ Ollie'. Though most of her training came from a mix of Grandma Dinah, Uncle Connor and occassionally Uncle Roy.

Harper was a bit envious of that.

Though he was so not envious over the fact she had to deal with Olivia, their aunt who was far younger than Mattie was. And a_ total_ bitch.

At least that's _his_ opinion.

Harper glances up as the bike speeds through downtown Gotham- most normal people would think this was insane but then again neither he and his uncle were sane or normal- to get to Wayne Manor that laid on the other side of it. This city hasn't changed too much since he arrived almost nine years ago which was Jason's last tenure as Robin before he became 'Red Hood'. Long story in that one.

Even his Dada, Dick, has no idea what it entirely means.

In either case, it was around that time that they found out about Damian, his Grandpa's son. Which gets confusing after you realize that Bruce Wayne has _many_ adopted kids under his roof. Even more confusing when one of them is a _direct_ bloodline.

Personally, Harper _loathes_ Damian. He doesn't get why his Dada finds him adorable or whatever. It makes him jealous when that twerp gets all the attention. Just because he's some freaking _prodigy_-!

"Are you going to stay like that all night?" Jason's dry tone, sounds similar to Grandpa Bruce, snaps him back to the present. "I'm not entirely interested in being your teddy bear, kid."

Harper rolls his eyes but gets up, "You wish." He takes the helmet off and gives Jason a slight pout, "When are you going to stop calling me kid?"

"When you grow a pair." Jason smirks and revs up the engine, "Don't kill anyone at the reunion. That's _my_ job."

Shaking his head, Harper fastens the helmet back onto the cycle and moves away, "Are you ever going to mend the fences?"

"Maybe if the food's good."

"It's _Alfred_. How can it _not_ be?"

"Point made." Finally having enough of that, Jason takes off without another word.

Harper is so not looking forward to this.

* * *

><p>Mary, better known as Robin, growls at her image in the mirror wondering why she can't find anything good to wear. At twenty, she was out of the house and on her own.<p>

Well, not _really_.

In truth, she lives with her Grandpa Clark. She supposes she's gotten along better with him then before when she learned about how poorly he treated her Dad.

Those two still don't talk as well, but she figures it was better than Dad always glaring at Gramps all the time. Either way, she searches around before finally getting fed up and using her x-ray vision- it had started to kick in last year. It was just really really bad timing when it did. Oh gods her scarred mind!-before she locates her scrunchy to put her hair up.

"Alright now." She says to herself smiling a bit. "That's stylin'!"

She knows she's only covering up and stalling.

She doesn't really want to go to the reunion.

It's always...always so-

"Robin, are you ready?" Clark calls to her.

"Yeah, Gramps. I'm coming!" She calls before checking her appearance once more then racing off to join him for the beam up.

She wonders how Mattie looks now.

* * *

><p>The reunion has gotten bigger then Mattie remembered. Last month, Hawkgirl had joined them with her son Rex, who's now at least-what? Ten? Something like that- and seemed to stick close to his mother whenever they showed up.<p>

She stretches with a sigh. Really, after greeting her parents and siblings, she wasn't sure what the point of it was any more.

Still, she smiles a little waving her siblings over while their parents mingled with the various other adults who've taken to bringing their sidekicks and children on these 'once a month' reunions to 'get to know others their own age'.

So far, Mattie is not impressed. But it beats hanging out with Olivia who was all over Jamie, even though the guy's like..._way_ older then she was.

"Another happy reunion I see." Harper sat across from her, "What's next?"

"You know the reason for it." Robin slicks her hair back looking into a compact. "Is Ame and Bart here yet?"

"No. Tim decided to join at least, but I don't know." Harper mutters looking around, "I swear, I'm going to _kill_ Damian."

"Aw, are you and Uncle Damian not getting along?" Mattie sips her drink with a slight smirk, "I thought you two would get on wonderfully after the_ last_ time. "

"Hey!" Harper looks at her over his sunglasses, "It is _not_ my fault that that twerp couldn't keep his mouth shut."

"At least he could _back it up_." Robin observes before smiling when she spots Bart and Amelia, "There they are!"

"Hi!" Amelia was only ten but similarly to her cousin, her speedster abilities do occasionally age her up. It was at least a good thing it only aged her two years and not a pinch more. Though they still worry that it might. "We just saw Damian!"

"I'm sure you did." Harper turns and smiles a bit at Bart, "Getting along well?"

"As ever." Bart smiles a bit, "Hey, is Tim around?"

"Talking to Dada and Dad." Mattie offers, "Why?"

"Well, he has something I need back."

"What? Porn?" Harper smirks as Robin 'lightly' hits him. "Ow!" His head bangs into the table leaving something of a dent, "Hey, just because I can survive tougher stuff does _not_ give you the right to use _superstrength_ on me!"

Robin sniffs, "At least remember that there are _little_ kids around!"

"...What's porn?" Ame tilts her head just as Charlie shows up to the group having gotten away from Rex-for now.

"Porn?" The twelve year old blinks and gives an incredulous stare at the others. "What the _hell_ is that?"

"See?" Robin huffs, "You're **corrupting** them!"

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am-"

"Hey guys." That put a stopped to any other arguments as they smile briefly at their Uncle Roy. "What's with the argument?"

Amelia decided to be really helpful when looks up at him and asks, "What's Porn?"

"Something for adults." He gave the other teens a look that translated exactly '_what are you talking about here?_'

"Ah, I think I see Dad and Tim. I better go." Without so much as a blink, Bart was gone.

Harper curses his luck for not having an awesome power like that. How many time would that have been useful? Seriously. He sighs through his nose as Ame and Charlie animatedly talked to Roy.

He searches the crowd, "Where's Lian?"

"With her mother." Roy doesn't sound exactly pleased about that.

Harper glances over at him, "And Connor?"

The red-haired archer says nothing but that was an answer in itself.

Harper wonders if he's not the only one having bad luck this year.

* * *

><p>Two hours in and already something is agitating the group. Harper doesn't know what it is, but the looks on his parents' faces said volumes.<p>

"Mattie," He sips his drink, "Think you can tap into their connection again?"

"No." She frowns following his line of sight, "What do you think it is?"

"Dunno." He answers as Tim drifts over to them, "What's going on?"

"An attack." The line of his mouth was set, "Seems coordinated, so-"

"Stay here and be good?" Harper didn't bother to hide his sneer.

"Something like that." Tim confirms. "Either way, there's no point of us going since half the League is there."

"Wouldn't mind knowing what they're up to, still." Mattie adds then grins slowly, "How good is your hacking skills again?"

Tim raises a brow, "Need you ask? After all, Dick did give me some cheats to this system- just in case."

Harper loves it when a plan comes together.


End file.
